You’re Trending in my Dreams Page 4

  He settled himself on her bed and they continued to talk about various topics including professors, sexy girls, hot guys, celebrities, sex and relationships. He felt the urge to touch her, not physically but to touch her heart and soul, to discover the things that she kept locked within, to be one with her thoughts. He wanted to understand her as a person. He felt it was too early and he didn’t want to sound desperate. However, love is love and you don’t decide whom you fall in love with or when you fall for them. Somewhere, somehow, in some nook of his heart, he knew that he had fallen for Malvika.

  Happy Hours of Singlehood

  It was a sunny afternoon and Varun was working his shift at the café. Being a weekend, there was a huge rush at the café and while waiting on one of the tables, Varun’s belt broke. He had to walk back with both his hands holding on to the pants so that they didn’t slide down. He called Garima and told her to rush to the café with another belt from his closet.

  For the next half an hour Varun didn’t wait on any tables as it was impossible for him to hold the dishes in one hand and his pants with the other. A slight mistake would have cost him either a deduction from his salary or the embarrassment of a lifetime. He knew he would be red in the face if his pants came down in front of so many people, including a good number of girls. He just prayed for Garima to reach as soon as possible.

  I am one of those rare men who pray that his pants don’t slip off so that I can resume work while a majority of men pray that someone will pull their pants down and start working,’ he thought to himself as he waited in a corner of the café kitchen. His colleagues were trying hard not to laugh while his manager was getting really furious. Luckily for him, Garima reached the place just before the manager could fire him and handed over his belt.

  ‘You are a saviour. Thank God. I was going to lose all my dignity otherwise,’ said Varun, breathing a sigh of relief.

  ‘I just hope this does not repeat itself. If it does, your only hope of survival would be your manager. That too if he is gay.’ Garima laughed.

  Garima was about to leave as Varun’s manager was already ranting about him wasting time. That’s when she saw something that astounded her. Ahana’s boyfriend Sid was getting cosy on the corner couch with some other girl. They were so close that even a blind person could have sensed what was going on between the two.

  ‘What happened?’ Varun asked, noticing her reaction.

  ‘That is . . . Sid . . . Ahana’s boyfriend . . . What is he doing here with . . .’ Garima stammered.

  Varun watched him closely and tried to recollect the picture Ahana had shown him once.

  ‘Are you sure? I mean I have never seen him personally. She just showed me a picture once.’

  ‘Yes, I am.’

  Garima took her mobile from her bag and discreetly clicked pictures and took a video of Sid cosying up to the girl so that she could show them to Ahana. Else Ahana might not have believed her word. Even if she did, Sid wouldn’t have accepted it.

  ‘This guy comes here almost every day. Mostly in the afternoon,’ Varun added, giving Garima a surprised look.

  Garima just glanced at him but didn’t utter a word. After clicking enough pictures and videos she went back to the apartment where she found Ahana filing her nails. Garima had no clue how to tell her that her boyfriend was two-timing her. The relationship that Ahana had considered just a passing affair had never really existed for Sid. Garima sat next to her and with all the courage she could muster, she blurted out the truth.

  ‘Sid is double-dating. He is sleeping around with another girl.’

  Ahana was shocked and didn’t know whether to believe her or not. She turned towards Garima and was about to pounce on her when Garima showed her the pictures on her mobile phone. Ahana stood there speechlessly. Though she always put up a brave front, now a tear rolled down her cheek. Every single teardrop had memories attached to it. Good or bad but memories nevertheless! In a fraction of a moment, everything flashed before her eyes. The fact that Sid loved someone else didn’t hurt her much but she was completely against two-timing a person.

  She wanted to call him the moment she saw all the photographs and videos but Garima stopped her, saying, ‘Don’t call him now. That will alert him. Varun told me he comes to the café every day. Varun didn’t know he was your boyfriend since he had seen him just once in a picture you had showed him. But instead of calling him now, we should catch him red-handed in the café tomorrow.’

  Ahana found her argument sensible and decided to play along to expose Sid in front of a huge group of people.

  ‘The only thing he will have in his mouth apart from his dick will be my name now. Treat me like a princess; I’ll treat you like a prince. Treat me like a game; I’ll show you how it’s played,’ Ahana exclaimed.

  A person who prefers to have an affair outside of a relationship always forgets that not every open eye is seeing, and not every closed eye is sleeping. Sid would have thought that he could play around and Ahana would never come to know, but he had been spotted. Usually lies don’t end relationships. The truth does. Sid had probably been lying for a long time but now when the truth was out, Ahana decided to put an end to their relationship.

  The next morning Ahana felt so different from the person she usually was. She felt heartless. There had been fights before with Sid but now she was going to end it once and for all. She couldn’t respect him any more. She wanted him to pay the price for trying to fool her, so that he would be afraid to treat anyone else in a similar manner. The whole thing had taught her a valuable lesson—you can’t know the complete truth about a person, no matter how familiar you are with them.

  Ahana and Garima went to the café in the afternoon. The entire way, Garima counselled her to keep a check on her aggression. But Ahana had made up her mind to kick his balls as hard as she could. She wanted to make him realize that cheating on women was not a cool idea. When it came to her dignity and pride, she could completely ruin a person for hurting her.

  Varun had informed them beforehand that Sid was sitting inside with the same girl.

  ‘You can come inside but please see to it that you don’t break the furniture,’ Varun teased, escorting them in from the back door.

  Furious, Ahana stormed into the café. Everyone turned around to look at her, including Sid. He anxiously stood up as soon as he saw Ahana staring down at him.

  ‘It’s over,’ Ahana screamed as loudly as possible.

  For a split second, Sid was embarrassed as all the people in the café were looking at them. The other girl with him looked confused. Ahana went closer to him and said, ‘Don’t be so surprised. Yes, I have caught you red-handed but I was already aware of your cheap fucking trick. Thanks to Garima, I know the truth now. She showed me pictures and clips of you getting cosy with this girl. I wouldn’t have known if Garima had not come to the café yesterday. You fucking son of a whore, your dick should be chopped off and you should be made to run naked all over the street. Maybe that will teach you a lesson or two. You should know what it’s like to be cheated on.’

  ‘You are not even giving me a chance to speak,’ Sid said, his face red with shame.

  ‘You are such an asshole!’

  Ahana pulled his cheeks mockingly and kicked him in the groin. The kick was so painful that he fell on the couch holding his balls. But more than the physical pain, it was the embarrassment that hurt Sid. Varun stood there watching the entire scene. With Ahana at the centre of things, there was no need for him to interfere. She was totally capable of dealing with the situation herself. With her uncontrollable aggression, she was handling everything just fine.

  Sid left the café in complete humiliation. He had not expected something like this to happen! One realizes the worth of what they have only when they lose it. This was true for Sid as well. He was heartbroken.

  A few hours had passed when Ahana received a message from him.

  I know there are a lot of things I did and I haven’t thought long enough
before doing them. I have lied to you so many times without thinking that it’s you I really care about and I never thought I would lose you. I could trade my life just to tell you one last time that though I committed mistakes, even you were not always right. But I know you have moved on, your expressions said so. I took you for granted. But how could you go away so easily? How can you be such a bitch without even thinking twice? Your company mattered at some point in time. But now it doesn’t. Why should it matter when it doesn’t matter to you? Get lost and don’t forget that you once used to sleep naked with me on my bed. Fuck off.

  Sid was going through extreme mood swings. One second he wanted Ahana back in his life and the next second he didn’t since she had been the one to call it off so easily. Did she ever care about him at all? Because of that frustration, gradually the ‘love’ in the message turned to ‘hate’. However, Ahana didn’t bother replying as she was not a sob queen from Bollywood—helpless, weak and silly over lost love. She was strong mentally and emotionally and was independent enough to handle her life her way. When her dad’s behaviour didn’t affect her emotionally, how could Sid’s? She wouldn’t have cared had Sid broken up first and then dated someone. But he preferred to cheat on her which annoyed her no end. When you let someone into your life full-time and they only let you in part-time, it’s time to move on.

  When Garima and Ahana came back to their room, Malvika had already ordered pizza for them to celebrate Ahana’s singlehood.

  ‘Finally you are single and now you can upload as many seductive selfies as you want on Instagram and even check in more frequently on Facebook. You don’t have to monitor your boyfriend’s Facebook to see if his ex is liking his photos or commenting on them. Now your phone bills will be reduced to half and you will get sound sleep every night. You don’t have to worry thinking about which café to go to during weekends nor will you be forced to watch action movies. You can just lock yourself up in your pyjamas and stay in bed. Your time will be all yours and when birthdays and Valentine’s Day roll around, you don’t need to buy dozens of gifts. You’ll save thousands of rupees by staying single. Just think of all that you can do with that money. Lots of vodka shots and pizzas. You can actually flirt around town and even upload photos with your male friends more frequently. And lastly, you don’t have to wax during winters as under layers of clothes. No immature guy is going to see your skin and shriek upon spotting a bit of hair.’

  Malvika ran out of breath and paused for a second, then added, ‘I think you should throw a break-up party tonight.’

  Ahana was laughing at whatever she said and hugged her. She even agreed to throw a party once Varun got back from the café. She couldn’t be angry with her friends who had made such an elaborate effort to make her smile and stood by her selflessly. All four of them were more than a family now.

  The final process of maturity is realizing that you can’t be angry at the world because of your experience with a few stupid, selfish people! When people start acting like the split ends in your hair, cut them off without warning before they cause more damage.

  ‘Gorgeous!’ Ahana exclaimed, looking at Malvika.

  Malvika had put on a knee-length skirt and a black halter-neck top. Her eyeliner and glossy lips made her charming face shine a little more than usual. Varun was dumbstruck looking at her.

  ‘I think I’m in love.’ Varun winked.

  ‘Oh shut up. Let’s move. Are we heading to the same place that I suggested?’ Malvika added.

  ‘Yes. Palladium Mall in Lower Parel.’

  ‘Where is Garima?’ Varun asked.

  ‘I am here,’ she replied, coming out from the bedroom.

  Everyone was speechless looking at Garima. For the first time since they had all moved in, Garima was wearing a dress. It was a full-length one-piece pink dress with a similar colour headband. She looked really cute in it. Everyone hugged her and Malvika could feel her eyes dampening with tears. She had always wanted Garima to destroy her past demons and enjoy her life to the fullest. Though she was still far from being absolutely comfortable in the company of outsiders, she was getting there with time. She was making an attempt to mix and be more social, trying to overcome the bitterness.

  ‘Wow. Never knew you could actually make someone go weak with just one look at you,’ Ahana said, hugging Garima. Then she said excitedly, ‘Okay guys, how about going wild tonight?’

  ‘Now what?’

  ‘How about using a penis straw tonight at the party?’ Ahana winked.

  Everyone glanced at each other with quizzical expressions on their faces. Ahana went inside and brought a couple of straws that were shaped like penises. She had ordered them online a few months ago just for fun.

  ‘All you have to do is suck it. Oops, I mean suck on the straw and drink your beer.’ Ahana gave a demo which embarrassed Varun and Garima but made Malvika laugh out loud.

  ‘It’s tacky. Don’t take it along with you, please,’ said Garima.

  ‘Some think it’s tacky; I think it’s funny. When we used it the last time, the waiter almost died of shock. It’s a cute way to have a little fun at the party.’

  ‘Are you freaking serious?’ asked Varun.

  Ahana was not in the mood to listen to reason and carried them with her.

  When they reached the lounge, the manager announced that there was a ‘Pi until you pee’ offer on, which was similar to a beer bladder burst where you are allowed to drink free of cost until you pee.

  Malvika and Ahana decided to participate in the contest. Varun had to drive Ahana’s car back so he refrained from drinking too much.

  ‘Ready, girl?’ Ahana asked Malvika to which she nodded.

  Within an hour, both the girls had already gulped down four glasses of draught beer. Ahana felt a little dizzy and just to check her level of drunkenness, she tried walking back and forth in the bar. She was swaying while walking and the situation was pretty fucked up. Malvika decided to stop as she wanted to go to the loo.

  ‘You loser, you are going to pee after just four drinks. You should learn self-control. It helps during sex too,’ Ahana screamed.

  Varun had no clue how to respond to this. Four more drinks and that was it. She had reached her threshold. Her bladder wasn’t bursting but she was completely out of her senses.

  Ahana was so high that she was smiling and waving at every guy she saw in the bar. No matter what people said, she was just screaming, ‘I am not high; I am just pretending to be.’

  Suddenly Varun spotted a college friend and waved at him. He caught Ahana’s attention and she went after him, asking him to join them. The guy was shit-scared and ran away.

  ‘I am in the mood. I need a guy . . . I am in the mood.’ She was screaming as they made their way to the car.

  Varun was worried now as the situation was getting worse. Garima had handled Malvika but it was difficult to handle Ahana. Somehow they both made her sit in the car and Varun started driving.

  ‘I am not going to allow them to drink so much from now on,’ Garima stated, looking at Varun in the rear-view mirror.

  ‘I was shit-scared,’ confessed Varun.

  Ahana kept talking about stupid things until Varun screamed at her to let him drive.

  ‘I need to pee,’ she screamed and started tapping her feet. Varun was seriously scared now.

  ‘Susu karni hai,’ she screamed out loud.

  Small smiles crossed Varun’s and Garima’s faces. Varun stopped at a lounge on the way and decided to take her in so that she could use the washroom. Malvika was asleep and thus Garima waited in the car while Varun accompanied Ahana to the washroom. She wore an expression of relief on her face once she came out after nearly five minutes. While leaving, a random guy showed up and asked Varun, ‘Is she your girlfriend?’

  Varun smiled and said, ‘No.’

  ‘Mind if I take her along for a while?’ he asked and made his first move by grabbing Ahana’s hand.

  Varun was slightly scared as they started interacti
ng.

  ‘Are you an IITian?’ Ahana asked in a tipsy voice.

  He almost laughed and said yes.

  ‘No doubt. All IITians are bloody despos,’ Varun added.

  Ahana bent towards him and gave him a tiny peck on his cheek. There was something really sweet about him even though he was a complete nerd.

  He laughed and said that was not what he was expecting.

  ‘You can now enjoy the next four years of IIT. Anyway, it sucks big time.’

  Ahana laughed and bid him goodbye.

  Ahana was terrifying and strange and beautiful. But her roommates loved her completely. Garima was slowly opening up and though she was reserved, all three of them cared for her a lot. Malvika lived for the moment and the one thing that everyone liked about her was that she was very frank. Varun was very understanding and knew how to handle women, which made him a favourite with the three girls. The moment they stepped into each other’s lives was the moment their lives truly began!

  Dear Life, You Suck!

  ‘Have you informed Malvika that I am coming along with you?’ Ahana asked Garima.

  ‘Yes, I told her we will be reaching in some time,’ Garima replied as she shuffled the radio channels in the car.

  Ahana was giving Garima a ride to college since she had her oral exams and didn’t want to take public transport. Ahana had decided to drop her off and then spend some time with Varun on campus and come back to the apartment together with everyone. She didn’t have any important assignments on that day so it was not a big thing for her to miss college. Malvika’s batch had an exam in the morning while Garima’s was in the afternoon.

  ‘You can park the car there,’ Garima said, guiding her as she was new to their campus.

  ‘Don’t worry, darling. I will park the car and come. You carry on.’ Ahana smiled.

  Garima got off and started walking towards the college building which was not very far from the parking lot. Midway, she saw the group that liked to tease her by calling her a virgin and also playing pranks on her. She would try not to pay them attention but they did make her furious sometimes. But she knew it was best to ignore them to avoid creating a scene in college. This time too as she walked past them, they started passing lewd comments.